Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscope system, and particularly to a depth-of-field endoscope system.
Description of the Related Art
Generally, in equipment provided with an image pickup element, such as an endoscope system, a depth of field has been known to become narrow with the number of pixels of the image pickup element becoming large. In other words, in an image pickup element, when a pixel pitch (horizontal and vertical dimensions of one pixel) is made small, since a permissible circle of confusion becomes small with the pixel pitch made small, the depth of field of an image pickup apparatus becomes narrow.
For widening the depth of field, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 4226235 for example, an arrangement in which, images are formed by splitting a self-image, and the images acquired are combined by image processing and the depth is widened has been disclosed. Moreover, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5593004, an arrangement in which, images are formed by dividing a self-portrait, and the images acquired are combined by image processing and the depth is widened has been disclosed. In this arrangement, since it is possible to acquire images by using one image pickup element, it is outstanding from a cost point of view.